“Everyone Left Me for Dead”: Shane van Gisbergen Unmasks Suffering From ‘Trust Issues’ in NASCAR

It was the 75th anniversary of NASCAR last year when Shane van Gisbergen dropped an exclamation mark as he put his #91 on full throttle through a debut win, something that hasn’t happened for the past 60 years in NASCAR history. Soon after, talks about joining NASCAR full-time started. After a glittering 80-win Supercars career and being a three-time Supercars champion, things had gotten stale in Australia. His team then, Triple Eight, didn’t stand in the way, even though SVG optimistically admitted ahead of the 2024 season: “It’s different; I have no idea what I’m in for.” Is reality finally catching up to him?

Adjustments had to be made. Far from the comforting world of Australian V8 Supercars, it looks like he did feel the disparity sharply in last weekend’s Talladega Cup race. Similar to his Xfinity start on the fastest oval, he grappled with a recurring challenge: Getting people to trust him.
Interesting fact: As of now, SVG, Brodie Kostecki, and Cam Waters are some of the very few Australian drivers to have joined NASCAR. Is that a reason for his awkwardness?

The Xfinity Series race on the Talladega track witnessed the Kiwi driver vying for a potential victory until he ran out of gas on the first overtime restart. This race gave him a hint that he was alone in his fight, as he expressed, “I made a mistake in the second stage thinking someone would follow me but they didn’t and I went straight back, so I am learning every lap.” However, the challenge proved to be tougher on his first Cup oval debut at the GEICO 500.

Pulling double duty on the Alabama track was hectic as it is, and the lack of support made it even worse for Shane van Gisbergen, who led his No. 16 Camaro twice and rushed toward the final laps. However, all his momentum was destroyed when Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch came up to the front. He had to settle for 26th place behind the leading pack, which got caught in a big one. Post-race, Gisbergen spoke to Auto Action and attributed his dismal situation to a lack of camaraderie with other drivers.

“I guess, at the start, I couldn’t get anyone to push me. I was trying to do stuff and everyone just dropped me and left me for dead in the middle. Then at the end I didn’t really understand how to keep Chase (Elliott) right on me to keep the speed up and then someone jumped in front of us and screwed the top lane.

The Kiwi further admitted to feeling left out in a crowd of veteran NASCAR drivers. “I guess it takes a while for people to trust you. They see the yellow stripes [denoting a rookie] on the name on the back and know ‘don’t trust you yet,’ so that’s going to take some time but it is what it is.

Shane van Gisbergen marked Talladega as a stepping stone toward greater rapport with his colleagues, although there are rough patches ahead. When asked if he could attain some trust, he said, “I felt like I was pretty stable and managed gaps, trying to be as smooth and trusting as I could.”

But, would that mean no more Aussies in NASCAR?

On one hand, where Monster Energy very recently sealed a deal with Cam Waters, giving the whole diversity narrative a positive spin. But on the other hand, the Chicago Street Course road winner presents a sad reality that is hard to ignore.

Adapting to the NASCAR way of racing was daunting from the beginning for the Kiwi. Gisbergen acknowledged last year as well how difficult his journey was going to be. But let’s go back to the times when Gisbergen said he wasn’t expecting anything!

This was when he focused on getting better before moving into NASCAR full-time this year. “I’m trying not to have expectations,” he explained. “I’m trying to have my preparation as good as possible, but results-wise, I have no idea what we’re going to achieve.” Now that he is feeling left out, would that affect his future runs? Only time will tell. But SVG is definitely weighing the different variables in Cup racing wherein every revelation has seen this quiet Kiwi star take learnings with each passing lap.